The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) awarded more than $104 million to seven people whose information led to a successful SEC enforcement action. The combined award is the fourth largest for the agency’s whistleblower program.
The seven whistleblowers included two groups of joint claimants and three single claimants, and each provided information leading to the opening of an SEC investigation or contributed to an existing investigation. They provided documents supporting the allegations of misconduct, agreed to be interviewed and identified potential witnesses.
“Today’s awards show that specific and credible information plays an integral part in the SEC’s enforcement efforts,” SEC Office of the Whistleblower Chief Creola Kelly said. “These whistleblowers provided information that helped enforcement staff detect and prosecute wrongdoing in a timely manner.”
As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose any information that could reveal their identity.
Payments to whistleblowers are from an investor protection fund, established by Congress and financed entirely through monetary sanctions from securities law violators. Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.